On the second and last NYC Mayoral election debate this 12 months, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani introduced two ladies who’ve accused Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment to sit down within the viewers.
The transfer attracted consideration each to these claims, which the previous governor Cuomo denies to at the present time — and to a standard observe of politicians inviting visitors from their opponent’s previous to stage accusations of wrongdoing.
Mamdani invited as his visitors to the Oct. 22 debate, held at Lengthy Island Metropolis’s LaGuardia Neighborhood Faculty, Charlotte Bennett and Karen Hinton — each of whom have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. They had been on the coronary heart of a scandal that introduced down the Cuomo administration in the summertime of 2021; he resigned that August amid a constructing wave of criticism and threats of impeachment over the accusations, which he has all the time denied.
In the course of the cross-examination portion of the Oct. 22 debate, Mamdani determined to direct his one query at Cuomo, reminding him that Bennett was within the viewers, as he sought to dramatize and produce accusations into the current.
“She cannot speak up for herself, because you lodged a defamation case against her,” Mamdani mentioned. “I, however, can speak.”
Mamdani mentioned it price hundreds of thousands to defend in opposition to these claims earlier than Cuomo replied that that they had been litigated and never upheld in civil or legal courtroom.
“If you want to be in government, then you have to be serious and mature,” Cuomo mentioned, suggesting Mamdani was utilizing the invitation and accusations to distract.
Why did Mamdani invite Cuomo’s accusers?
Some observers have instructed that whereas inviting accusers can draw consideration to potential points, it can be perceived as a debate tactic.
“Accountability is essential, but so is fairness,” mentioned Jaci Clement, CEO and govt director of media watchdog group the Honest Media Council. “When candidates use accusations as a campaign tactic, it can be seen as exploiting the victim on one end of the spectrum and as political theater on the other.”
Clement mentioned that accusations, significantly when accusers are current, can overshadow different elements of the talk.
“As a strategy, it pulls attention from the policy issues voters need to hear,” Clement mentioned. ”And sure, we stay in a post-truth period, the place emotion and outrage are sometimes the purpose, to generate consideration, even on the expense of speaking factors, platforms, and public service.”
Legal professionals appointed by New York State Lawyer Basic Letitia James in 2021 discovered Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 ladies, together with Bennett.
James later made an abbreviated run for governor after Cuomo resigned, as these claims took a political toll, though none had been upheld in both civil or legal courtroom. In 2022, James finally selected to run for re-election relatively than problem the incumbent, Kathy Hochul.
Bennett, in the meantime, sued Cuomo in 2022 and dropped the swimsuit in 2024, settling with New York State this 12 months. The Mamdani marketing campaign, nonetheless, defined that it sought to present Bennett a voice after being “effectively silenced” by Cuomo.
“Bennett — who has not been in the same room as Andrew Cuomo since 2020 — has been effectively silenced by Cuomo, who has repeatedly filed legal summons for defamation, intended to prevent her from speaking about the case,” in response to a press launch Mamdani issued after the talk.
A distraction ‘stunt’, Cuomo marketing campaign says
The day after the Oct. 22 debate, a Cuomo spokesman reiterated the assumption that Mamdani’s query about Bennett was a stunt designed to distract from his personal points.
“If you want to be mayor, in charge of a 118,000-member workforce, you have to be serious. It’s not just stunts,” Cuomo spokesman Wealthy Azzopardi reiterated. “It’s a tactic [used] when you don’t have substance. And Mamdani certainly does not have substance.”
Azzopardi mentioned he believes the purpose was to rattle Cuomo, which he mentioned didn’t happen.
“It was ineffective,” he added. “If the goal was to rattle Andrew Cuomo, that goal certainly fell short.”
He referred to as the motion “a stunt, a gimmick, a magic trick” and mentioned you “need more than illusions to run for mayor.”
Cuomo, in the meantime, has reached again into Mamdani’s previous, specializing in Tweets and different statements typically made years in the past defaming the NYPD. Azzopardi mentioned Mamdani’s phrases are much more vital as a consequence of his restricted time in public service.
“The governor’s record is relevant. Mamdani doesn’t have a record. His words are the only record of what he’s about and what he stands for,” Azzopardi mentioned. “His magic trick is, ‘Hold the governor accountable for his record, but don’t look at anything I said.’”
Azzopardi mentioned Cuomo invited visitors the previous governor wished to thank for his or her efforts on this election and up to now.
“The people we brought to the debate are longtime supporters and volunteers who were excited about attending the debate,” Azzopardi mentioned. “This was a thank you for their hard work.”
Previous examples of viewers visitor tactic
Whereas Mamdani’s invitation attracted consideration, it’s not the primary time a candidate has introduced accusers to a debate.
Donald Trump in 2016, earlier than the second presidential debate in opposition to Hillary Clinton, once more held a press convention with Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, and Kathleen Willey — all of whom accused President Invoice Clinton of sexual assault or harassment.
Kathy Shelton, whose attacker in a rape case was defended by Hillary Clinton, additionally took half within the press convention.
The ladies sat within the viewers on the presidential debate, solely days after the discharge of the notorious Entry Hollywood tape by which Trump was recorded making sexist remarks when he thought his microphone was turned off.
Speaker of the Home Nancy Pelosi in 2020 invited gun reform advocate Fred Guttenberg to President Trump’s State of the Union speech that 12 months.
Guttenberg’s 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was considered one of 17 killed within the 2018 faculty capturing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty in Parkland, Fla.
“Just as we believe in the First Amendment, we also believe in another constitutional right that is under siege all across the country,” Trump mentioned through the 2020 State of the Union. “So long as I am president, I will always protect your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.”
Guttenberg shouted opposition and was summarily ushered out, as Trump continued his speech.
“I let my emotions get the best of me,” Guttenberg later mentioned. “I simply want to be able to deal with the reality of gun violence and not have to listen to the lies about the [Second Amendment] as happened tonight.”
He added that he felt he had not served his trigger by expressing his feelings at that second.
“I do owe my family and friends an apology,” Guttenberg mentioned. “I have tried to conduct myself with dignity throughout this process, and I will do better as I pursue gun safety.”
